Safety razor



N.TEST| SAFETY RAZOR Aug. 22, 1944.

Filed Oct. 27, 1943 Patented Aug. 22, 1944' UNITE1D STATES} PATENT OFFICE Nicholas Testi; Mass, assignor to Gillette Safety Razor Company, Boston, Mass, a corporation of Delaware Application October 27, 1943, serial No. 507,773

' 7 Claims. (01. 30-70) This invention consists in improvements in safety razors facilitating the presentation to the razor of fresh sharp blades while protected by a wrapper or envelope which it is desired to remove only after the blade has been positively and completely located in its shaving position.

7 The shaving edge of a thin safety razor blade is brought to such a high degree of fineness that it is extremely delicate andits keenness is likely to be'destroyed if'the edge is accidentally drawn across any part of the razor or'the blade magazine or even the blade wrapper preparatory to shaving. Great care and considerable skill is required ordinarily on the part of the user to extract "such a blade from its wrapper andpresent it safely in its shaving position" without damage to its edge. The present invention deals with blades of a type which may be protected at the time ofmanufacture by being enclosed in a paper wrapper. This wrapper overlaps and safeguards the sharp edge or edges of the razor blade and must be removed to make the edge accessible for shaving. We contemplate a safety razor so organized that the wrapped blade maybe delivered directly thereto in its final shaving position and temporarily held as thus positioned while the user has only to strip the wrapper from the blade and withdraw it from the razor, all this being efiected without danger and'even without the possibility of touching the keen cutting edge of the blade.

To this end an important feature of the improved safety razor consists in pivotally mounting either the cap or guard memberand providing it with a projection for engaging a perforated blade inserted between the two members. Preferably and as herein shown spring means are provided for rocking the pivoted member so'that its projection engages and holds the blade against lon gitudinal movement, and it is'while soengaged that the user may grasp and conveniently strip the cover from the blade. may be provided for rocking the pivoted razor member in opposition to such spring action for Any desired means releasing the blade and as herein shown such means are conveniently provided in the shape of a stud which projects freely through the opposed blade-clamping member where it may be readily "manipulated by the user preparatory to present,- ing'a fresh or unused covered blade to therazor or in removing a used'blade therefrom. These and other features of'the invention will .be'best understood and appreciated from the following description ofa preferred embodiment tl ijiereofgselected for purposes of illustration and. L

shown in the accompanying drawing, in which- .iig. 1 is. aview in perspective of a complete razorshowing a blade in its position of presentation. o Fig. 2 is a similar View showing a blade clamped in shaving position;. Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view similar to Fig. 2 but asseen from a different angle; 7 I v 4 .is 'a' view inlongitudinal section on an enlarged scale and corresponds to Fig. 1 except that a section is broken from the handle;

Fig. 5 isia view in perspective showing the parts of the razor and;blade in exploded relation; and

Fig. 6.is a view of the razor in longitudinal section. and on an enlarged scale corresponding to Fig. 2.

' The invention is not limited to safety razors of any specific type, and while itis herein shown as embodied in a razor of the fGillette type, with suitable modification it is capable of general application. The illustrated razor includes in its structure a guard or blade-supporting member 10 of rectangular contour having a blade-supporting face shouldered longitudinally and provided atits edges withdownturned guard flanges I I, The blade-supporting face is centrally depressed in the form of a diamond-shaped recess .IZ and, the wall of the recess is centrally perforated to receive the handle of the razor and slotted at its opposite ends toreceive the bladelocating rib of the cap. V r

llhe handle comprises a tubular barrel l3 shoulderedso that its upper: end may be inserted through the perforation of the guard and riveted in place upon the bottomyof' the recess l2 thus permanently uniting the barrel of the handle and the "guard member." The barrel l3 of the handle contains in its lower end an elongated tubular nut The cap I6. corresponds in cdntourto the guard ,10 except that it. is narrower and has a concave IbI'ade engaging face which extends over the lonfgitudinal shoulders of the guard thus' clamping the blade in a position of transverse curvature when the cap and guard are 'drawn together by rotating the nut I4. In both corners at pne end fof the cap are, provided downwardly: projecting pins, l l and at the other end the cap has a shallow recess l8 to facilitate grasping the'endpf ajcov- .ejred 'blade'benea'th, the cap; It' is provided ceni-trally with a narrow' blade-locating 1 rib l s from which projects a short fiat-sided stem 20 bevelled or cut away at one side of its end surface. One end of the rib I9 is provided with a downwardly extending projection I5 of the same width as the rib which is arranged to pass freely into the slot at one end of the diamond-shaped recess I2 of the guard member. This projection I5 serves the purpose of a guide or pilot for directin an open-end blade properly when the blade is presented between the cap and guard members, by passing into the open end of the blade slot. The projection I5 provides an unbroken wall between the blade-engaging faces of the cap and guard which must be straddled by the two sides of the blade as the latter is'advanced endwise between them. The cap I6 is also provided at one side of the stem with a circular boss 2i into which the rib merges. This boss is substantially wider than the rib and extends sym-g metrically on both sides thereof.

' The stem of the cap is arranged to be fitted into the forked upper end of a spindle 22 which is threaded at its lower end for engagement with the upper end of the tubular nut I4 as shown in Fig. 4. A pivot pin 23 extends through the forks of the spindle and the stem 20 thus permitting the cap to rock freely on the spindle. The upper end of the handle barrel is chambered to receive the upper end of the spindle 22 and the stem 20 with substantial clearance and alsoto receive with clearance a loose collar 24 and a compression spring 25, both of which surround the spindie 22. In assembling the razor parts a stud 2B is inserted through the slot at the other end of the depression I2 in the guard member from the slot occupied by the rib extension I5 and the shank of this stud is permanently fastened in the boss 2| of the cap. The shank of the stud is no thicker than the rib I9 and so of itself offers no obstruction to the presentation of a blade but I passes freely through the slot thereof. A stop screw 21 is inserted in the lower end of the spindle 22 in position to engage the internal shoulderdn the upper end of the nut I4 and prevent complete disengagement of the cap and guard While permitting a limited separation sufficient to admit a blade between them.

The razor above described is adapted particularly for use with a double-edged blade of the well-known type shown in Fig. 5. This blade is recessed and shouldered in each corner to provide elongated centrally disposed unsharpened end portions. It is slotted longitudinally and its slot extends out through one end portion of the blade making it an open-ended blade. The blade is provided with a protective cover 3| of sheet material which is folded so as to protect the sharpened cutting edges of the blade and to extend in the form of a folded culf beyond the solid end thereof.

A protected blade of this general type is shown in U. S. Patent No. 2,194,281, March 19, 1940, Gustafson, to which reference may be had for further. details of the protective cover. It will be noted, however, that this extends on both sides of the vblade beyond its sharpened cutting edges and is cut away centrally fully to expose the blade slot.

ber except when the boss 2I is retracted above the path of movement of the blade.

The flat stem 20 is slightly wider than the diameter of the spindle 22 so that its long side is engaged by the loose collar 24 located directly beneath it on the spindle. The length of the spring 25 and depth of therecess in the upper end of the razor handle are such that when the tubular nut I4 is rotated to its limiting position the cap I6 is drawn down into firm clamp ing engagement with the blade which has been presented between the cap and guard members of the razor and the spring 25 is tightly compressed within its recess. This is the condition a substantial distance below the shoulder in the The slot of the blade 30 is designed to receive v the blade-locating rib I9 of the cap and includes upper end of the tubular nut I4. This distance represents the amount of separation permitted between the cap and the guard when the nut I4 is turned reversely until it is again limited in its rotation, this time by the head of the screw 21 as shown in Fig. 4.

As the nut I4 is turned reversely and the spindle 22 permitted to rise, the action of the spring-pressed collar 24 upon the right side of the stem 20 is to rock the cap I6 in a counterclockwise direction about the axis of the pivot pin 23. This tends to hold the left-hand end of the cap down against the guard, thus maintaining the boss 2I engaged in the perforation 32 of the blade 30. The blade is thus locked against longitudinal movement and can only be released by .upward pressure on the part of the user against the head of the stud 26. This overcomes the action of the spring 25 and rocks the cap, lifting the boss 2| out of the perforation 32 and permitting the blade to be freely withdrawn toward the right as seen in Fig. 4. In this movement of withdrawal the shank of the stud 26 plaises freely out of the open end of the. blade s o From the foregoing explanation the operation of presenting a protected blade to the razor will be easily understood. Having loosened th nut I4 so that the cap occupies the position shown in Fig. 4, that is to say, with its right-hand end lifted and its left-hand end depressed against the guard, the user may introduce the open end of a protected blade into the space which the action of the spring 25 provides for it at the right-hand end of the razor. In initiating the presentation of the blade the latter is guided by the pilot projection I5 at the right-hand end of the rib I9. With the razor parts in this position, however, the movement of the blade is soon obstructed by engaging the boss 2I. Accordingly, the'user must press upwardly upon the head of the stud 26 to rock the cap and retract the boss above the surface of the blade. When this has been done the inward movement oftheblade may be continued until the shoulders .at itsadvancing end bring, up against the pins II'of the cap, the pins being spaced to -engage..theT side edges .of the shoulders at the ,open' end'offthe the blade soengaged the user has only to grasp the outer end' of the, protective covers! and pull it toward th t h thu 's ppinsjiit. from the "blade while the latteris held in shaving position. Having removed the cover in this manner the nut 14 may be rotated to lower the cap to its blade-clamping position, compressing the spring 25 and transversely flexing the blade into the desired condition for shaving.

Having thus disclosed my invention and described one illustrative embodiment thereof, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patout:

1. A safety razor having cap and guard members connected for limited separation to receive a protected blade between them, one of said members having a pivotal mounting and carrying a projection for engaging a perforated blade, a spring for rocking said member to engage said projection with a blade, and separate means for rocking said member in opposition to the spring to disengage the blade.

2. A safety razor having cap and guard members connected for relative movement to clamp or release a perforated blade interposed between them, means for pivotally supporting one of said members, a projection at one side of said member for engaging said blade, and spring means acting at the other side of said member to rock it into blade-engaging position.

3. A safety razor having a convex blade-supporting member with a tubular handle, a spindle slidable in said handle and having a concave cap pivotally mounted at one end thereof, means for moving the spindle to release the cap, and means for yieldingly holding one end of the cap against said blade-supporting member.

4. A safety razor having a guard with a hollow handle, a cap with a spindle telescopically movable in said handle, said cap having a pivoted stem located partially within said spindle and projecting on one side thereof, and a spring surmounting the spindle and bearing on one side of the stem whereby the cap is rocked into yielding engagement with an interposed blade.

5. A safety razor having a hollow handle with a guard fixed thereto, a cap having a blade-locating rib, a wider blade-engaging projection and a stem bevelled to a one-sided point, a spindle sliding in said hollow handle, a spring surrounding the spindle and acting on the point of the stem to rock the cap in a manner carrying the blade-engaging projection thereof toward the said guard.

63. A safety razor having a guard member, a central stem movable through the guard member, a cap member mounted to rock upon said stem and having on one face a projecting bladelocating rib and .a projecting detent wider than said rib, a spring tending to rock the detent of the cap toward the guard, and manual means for rocking the cap in the opposite direction.

7. A safety razor having cap and guard members connected for relative movement to clamp or release an open-end blade interposed between them, means for pivotally mounting one of said members to rock with respect to the other member, and a blade-locating rib on one of said members having a projection at one end, the other member being provided with a slot in which said projection may be received thereby providing an unbroken wall between the blade-engaging faces of the cap and guard which must be straddled by the two sides of the blade when presented endwise between them.

NICHOLAS TESTI. 

